The annual QS World University Rankings have been running for over 20 years and are designed to evaluate the world’s top universities to help potential students, staff and research funders make informed comparisons and choices about where to spend their time and money. In particular, the rankings are a primary consideration in the selection of universities for many prospective international students. Our position in the rankings will be partly informed by a global survey that measures academic and employer reputation, which are considered by QS as two critical indicators of university quality. Together, these reputation surveys are currently weighted at 45%, making them a highly influential factor in our overall ranking.
The QS survey methodology involves a very large number of academic and employer contacts being asked questions to enable an assessment of the reputation of universities all over the world. Specifically, academics are asked to nominate institutions they believe produce the best research in their fields, while employers are asked to identify universities that produce the most capable graduates. Each university has an opportunity to feed into this highly impactful process by nominating potential academic and employer contacts to QS.
Why do the QS World University Rankings matter to the University of Sussex?
The QS World University Rankings are a globally influential measure of university excellence, evaluating institutions across research strength, teaching quality, international outlook, and graduate employability. For Sussex, strong QS rankings reinforce our reputation as a research-intensive, globally minded institution. They also significantly impact recruitment, particularly among international students in key markets like China and India, where these rankings are heavily trusted as indicators of academic quality and career prospects. A strong position in QS helps to attract top talent, world-class academics, and meaningful partnerships.
The rankings are built partly on data that reflects the real work of our community - including research citations, staff-to-student ratios, and international engagement. They also draw on academic and employer reputation surveys, where our global networks play a vital role in how Sussex is perceived. Engagement with students, alumni, and academic contacts in key markets such as China, India, and across Asia directly contributes to Sussex's international reputation and, ultimately, our QS performance. Every member of our community - researchers, educators, and professional services staff - contributes to the metrics and perceptions that shape these rankings.
While rankings cannot give a full picture of a university, they are one way of benchmarking our progress and demonstrating our global impact. They help us understand where we are excelling and where we can continue to improve - particularly in areas such as research visibility, global engagement, and graduate success.
How you can help Sussex improve its QS rankings
Sussex staff have a critical role to play in suggesting academic and employer contacts whose details can be shared with QS as potential participants in the surveys. All academic staff will receive a direct email from the Planning team with instructions on how to submit contacts, including a list of suggested contacts.
Who are suitable contacts?
When considering who to submit as contacts, please consider anyone who you believe is likely to mention the University of Sussex in their responses, and fits into the academic or employer categories listed below. The seniority of contacts and the status of their institution or organisation does not impact the ranking, and you can provide multiple contacts from the same institution.
- Academic contacts might include: co-authors, peers, research partners, former colleagues, former PhD students and other alumni in academia, academic editorial board contacts, Research Council Advisory Strategy teams, Visiting Fellows.
- Employer contacts might include: industrial advisory board contacts, industrial placement contacts, graduate recruiters, alumni, contacts in middle or senior management positions who are likely to interact with Sussex graduates in a professional capacity.
Who are not suitable contacts?
- Retired people cannot be included as contacts, although those who hold another post in academia or industry after retirement may be included (e.g. an Emeritus Professor).
- University of Sussex staff, including anyone with a @sussex.ac.uk email address, cannot be included.
If there are any queries, or if you are an academic member of staff and you do not receive your personalised email during the week commencing 20 October, please contact the Planning team at planning@sussex.ac.uk.